Bacteria are prey to bacteriophages, other bacteria, protists, and fungi. Can you think of a mechanism that all these predators may have in common?
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The predator sends a message, "are you friend or foe?" If foe, the predator recognizes foe via peptide/polysaccharide, and attacks. This is what phage and other predators have in common. See papers by Bettelheim who explains friend/foe recognition.
Colony incompatibility studies of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli O126 isolated during one outbreak.
Bettelheim KA.
J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Mar;19(3):408-11.
Colony incompatibility in bacteria.
Bettelheim KA, Carlile MJ.
Nature. 1976 Dec 23-30;264(5588):757-8. No abstract available.
See also Prophage contribution to bacterial population
dynamics.
Bossi, et al.
J. Bacteriology 2003 185: 6461-71.
Posted by: Abe Eisenstark | November 29, 2008 at 11:49 AM